Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages and respond quicker when you do need us, because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana.

Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you, Louisiana aims to lead the national energy transition, fueled by the largest ever grant awarded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

And Governor Jeff Landry's crackdown on illegal immigration extends to assistance at the Texas border.

And the Lunar New Year arrives as Asian communities around the state celebrate.

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Let's do this.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen Lalor, and I'm crossing here.

Much more on those top stories in a moment on this week's edition of Swg.

But first, immigration policy continues to dominate the news cycle in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a border security bill supported by the biotech ministration.

Though immigration law is technically a federal matter, state governors are asking for more control.

In a recent visit to Eagle Pass, Texas Governor Jeff Landry stated his desire to send Louisiana National Guard troops to the Texas border.

His request is now a reality.

Conflict at the U.S. border is thickening tensions in the political world as state and federal governments argue about who should control the border, in which territories.

I am at the Texas border for you.

Governor Jeff Landry, along with 12 other governors, visited Eagle Pass, Texas, in support of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's push for a more localized and strict border security policy in December 2023.

Border Patrol blocked more than 300,000 migrants from entering through Eagle Pass.

Though immigration is a federal issue.

Local governments like Texas have been pushing for border security to be handled at a state level, including Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.

Texas has always been a great neighbor to us, and if they're calling that, we should heed that particular call.

Only days after his visit, Governor Landry asked the legislature for the funds to deploy 158 National Guard troops to Texas, along with other states like Alaska, Tennessee and Missouri.

In a press conference, the governor said the plan would fight the fentanyl epidemic and prep troops for future active duty.

This actually serves a purpose in helping Louisiana, too, because it shows and trains our National Guardsmen, of which I was one for readiness in active duty and service, the things that they all sign up for.

So this money that some people are claiming is wasted is not wasted.

It helps to prepare our troops.

It helps to train our troops.

And it also helps our neighbors in Texas.

Landrieu's request comes at a time where border security is hotly debated at the U.S. Capitol.

A border bill intended to strengthen security died in the Senate before making it to a vote, taking four months of deliberation.

You can do a partizan bill in the House, but in the Senate, we have to look at each other across the aisle and then figure out a way to be able to solve this.

Landry joined other Republican leaders in criticizing the bill and President Biden claiming that the bill wasn't strict enough.

We are standing here today because the federal government refuses to act because the president refuses to do his job.

Now, look, we wouldn't be here today.

Four years ago, President Trump had that border sealed.

Louisiana troopers will not be authorized to detain immigrants.

Instead, they'll be under the authority of the Texas National Guard.

If an undocumented migrant attempts to cross the border, Louisiana troops will report them to Texas law enforcement.

The duties that will be expected to handle are those that we've been trained for and that the soldiers have participated in and in different exercises, as well as when they deploy for state emergencies here or elsewhere.

In an interview with the Advocate Senate, President Cameron Henry said Governor Landrieu's plan might cost around $3 million to fund.

According to a spokesperson for the Louisiana National Guard, the plan is still in the preliminary stage.

An exact dollar figure isn't yet known.

In a statement to L.P., Lieutenant Colonel Noel Collins said, quote, The number will be a result of Louisiana National Guard planning and state funding.

This isn't the first time Louisiana's National Guard has committed troops to the border.

360 were sent to the southwest border in 2021, but that was under a federal, not state order.

I'm not going to.

I'm not going to give particulars to a military mission.

We are looking at all of our options to make sure that this mission is able to begin smoothly and smoothly.

The exact details of when this plan will take place and how long it'll last haven't been released to the public yet.

But the deployment is expected to start in March.

From hash tags to headlines, here's what's trending this week.

Louisiana musicians made a major Grammy grab at the 2024 Grammys, which aired Sunday, February 4th.

And country music star Lainey Wilson from Baskin won her very first Grammy.

It was really endearing.

She gave a speech and likened her career to planting seeds, which is kind of a reference to her farming community that she grew up a bit.

Big turnout.

It was a huge turnout.

In addition to that, I believe in a rare tie for Regional Roots album.

There were four Louisiana bands that were able to get awarded.

And then amazing for folk music.

And so I don't you know, honestly, we're sitting here, we're smiling, but I'm not surprised.

Louisiana has the best music, especially with Zydeco, all the brass bands.

I think it's great and this is exciting.

Grammy nominated award winner John Baptiste, he also performed, of course, so.

Okay.

Speaking of social media, we know super Bowl is coming out Sunday, February 11th.

Many of us will be watching.

Football and social media had a lot going on.

Southern University marching band known as the Human Jukebox.

They packed up their instruments, headed to Vegas to tape a performance that will air on Saturday as part of the pre party festivities.

But also lots going on there.

We've got the Super Bowl in New Orleans at the Superdome next year, which isn't going to be very, very, very exciting.

Yeah, I mean, hopefully we'll be able to see the Saints actually play in the Super Bowl because it's been.

How long has it been since they went?

It's been 14 years since day one.

And actually Drew Brees was popping up in a lot of social media feeds holding his trophy, reminding us that, hey, maybe if the Super Bowl is back in New Orleans, it might mean good luck for the Saints.

And I have to say one more thing about this.

If anybody wants to complain about the Saints and the Super Bowl or anything like that, you can just answer them and say every single time the New Orleans Saints have gone to the Super Bowl, they won there.

You can say that.

Good to do.

All right.

So King cake, baby.

Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to King Cake, baby.

That's sad, ugly baby.

Master, that ends well since Mardi Gras is right around the corner.

Kin cake baby is going back to mama Only a baby mama can love.

This is definitely interesting looking.

I'm not sad to see him go.

And also, speaking of new and new things that are coming up so we all know about category five hurricanes here in Louisiana.

But what if a Category five isn't?

You know, what if a Category five isn't strong enough?

What if we need a new category, Category six for hurricanes?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Global warming.

Yes.

Now here to that Category six to qualify and quantify the power of hurricanes.

And you know what Category five is?

It's about 157 miles per hour winds.

So we've only had four of those make landfall in history and Hurricane Andrew was one of them.

My mom still talks about that one Category six hurricanes.

I got to say, that is a scary thought.

Okay.

Shifting the mood on to some good news.

Good news, Louisiana, a $160 million grant makes Louisiana a national leader in energy transition, research and development.

The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded the grant to LSU as the team leader of fuel.

That's a public private partnership to develop lower carbon technologies and renewable power sources.

Here is a preview of their ten year plan to train Louisiana's workforce for the future of energy while staking a claim at the forefront of this new frontier.

LSU chemical engineering student Brady Jacob joins Louisiana's next generation energy workforce, graduating soon with a job as a process engineer.

As we look for new technologies such as the carbon sequestration and other green renewables that can affect our society in a positive way.

So as an energy worker.

What excites you about your future and your career options?

It gives me the ability to be versatile, not as a chemical engineer, but also as a person.

I can look towards other career path that may deal with more carbon sequestration or even go more the renewable route.

Louisiana's energy transition paves a new frontier for Brady and countless others entering the workforce.

Possibilities fueled by a $160 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation awarded to LSU as the team leader of fueled future use of energy in Louisiana.

It includes private companies, universities, community and technical colleges and state agencies.

The Grant Award total is $160 million over ten years, and that's being matched by Louisiana Economic Development with 67 and a half million dollars.

So the total project here is 227 million over ten years for the state of Louisiana.

This grant was one of the most competitive grants that National Science Foundation has ever awarded.

There were over 700 original applications and they whittle that down to ten awardees across our country.

Louisiana can thank the Mississippi River for its competitive edge.

The waterway is the lifeblood of the state's energy infrastructure.

We understand the National Science Foundation recognized the value of all of the industry.

We have up and down the river in Louisiana.

So we have a team out here that helps manage the facility.

This mock oil and gas drilling rig on LSU campus is another competitive asset in Louisiana's energy evolution.

The world renowned facility at the LSU Petroleum Engineering, Research, Training and Testing Lab gives students real world training and researchers a testing ground to develop technologies.

The NSF grant will fund more cutting edge facilities on campus and pilot projects.

We're going to build electrolyzers that are actually at the scale where students can work on them, that actually they can test these new technologies, work out all the kinks, and then they put it in industry.

We have five wells already here on campus.

We're going to drill a six well.

That's actually going to be a scalable direct air capture carbon capture system that students can be trained on and an industry can come here and test the new valves, test a new fluids, test a new pipelines.

What we want to do is we want to get into the synthetic fuel business.

The NSF grant serves as a catalyst for collaboration between educational institutions at all levels, including K-through-12 researchers and private industry.

And it embodies three focus areas research, workforce development and the commercial deployment of new technologies.

So we have six main research thrusts.

One of them is carbon capture utility utilization and sequestration.

The others are CO2 as a feedstock.

The hydrogen economy, water use and reuse In this activity and then sustainable infrastructure.

So looking at our current infrastructure and saying, Wow, we really need to strengthen that or revitalize that so it will last for another hundred years for our energy economy and our country.

The federal windfall also extends to wind energy, with Louisiana's recent designation as one of 31 tech hubs nationwide.

That tech hub is we're going to build an experimental research wind turbine.

It's going to be located right off of Port Fourchon.

And if we get the funding, we won't be the only university that has a research wind turbine actually in the water on a lease.

That is a research lease given to us by approved by the state of Louisiana.

And so get it.

And the whole maritime industry in Louisiana is positioned to lead the world and supporting offshore wind.

And we want to work with them and build that technology so that they can work around the world, See, the jobs that we have here are going to be jobs that are influencing energy transition around the world, known as the NSF Engines grant.

Its main focus is the decarbonization of Louisiana's industrial corridor while scaling up the state's current and future workforce.

I believe a petroleum department, as well as the CME Department, will look into and look for ways to make our world a more positive, carbon neutral society.

But we want small businesses to stay here in Louisiana that are actually building the new products that are going to be necessary for this future energy.

We want the entrepreneurs, we want the investment in those jobs, in those businesses, not over in Texas.

Robert Hodges now heads the Louisiana State Police as the 27th superintend and after being appointed by Governor Jeff Landry.

Hodges has over 28 years of experience with the state police and served as an intelligence officer for the Louisiana Army National Guard Reserve prior as Superintendent and Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Services.

Hodges will oversee more than 2000 employees and a budget of over 557 million.

I sat down with Colonel Hodges as he talked shop about the future of Louisiana State Police.

Well, first off, I'd like to say congratulations.

This is a very big moment for you.

You've had a very long stint in law enforcement, and it's culminating in this moment.

How do you feel?

Very excited.

Very excited.

So I think it's worth noting that Governor Landry mentioned that the Justice Advisory Council, they interviewed every trooper with the rank of captain or above for this particular role.

Why do you think that you stood out among all of the other candidates?

Well, first, let me say it speaks volumes about Governor Landry and his team to take the time and effort to interview all of the candidates who represent leadership in the agency and then in turn, select the candidate they felt best to serve.

State police moving forward.

That process was, I think, gave the team, as in Governor Landry's team, a snapshot of our agency, what we're trying to accomplish and where we go moving forward for the next few years.

All right.

And speaking of where you want to go in the next few years, I mean, what is one of the key areas that you think needs improvement within the Louisiana State Police Agency?

I'd try to I'd refer rather classified as building on existing successes and partnerships.

So we're in a good place, but we want to continue to elevate and continue to partner with other law enforcement agencies, both federally, state and local agencies.

And those partnerships are so important as we try to eliminate crime and provide public safety for Louisiana as a whole.

And with or without those agencies, we can't do it effectively.

Governor Landry has repeatedly said that reducing crime in New Orleans specifically, that'll be a major agenda item for him during his tenure.

But during a press conference in November, whenever he first introduced that, you would be taking on this role.

He didn't elaborate much on how the state police will be part of that plan.

He said, Stay tuned.

So now that he's been inaugurated and you are officially the head of the Louisiana State Police, how is this agency going to target crime in New Orleans?

Well, again, I'll go back to partnership.

So we've been working collectively with the district attorney's office, with the New Orleans Police Department, with the Louisiana attorney general's office, as well as the governor's cabinet, and building a plan to tackle crime in New Orleans, and that we're still finalizing those operational aspects of the plan.

And we hope to get moving forward later in the spring.

However, right upon us, as you know, next month is Mardi Gras, right?

So we will send over 130 troopers to support the New Orleans police Department, as we've done for the last 50 years.

And they will be in both patrol, air support and other specialized divisions that are required for the city.

And that partnership has been very successful.

Is there any strategy that the Louisiana State Police will be using that's different from what NOPD was doing in the past?

Well, I think it's just a more focused initiative.

And what I mean by that is when crime is is not just a law enforcement specific.

It is a public safety concern.

It's it's obviously the governor and both houses, both the legislature, have made that a top priority and his cabinet.

And because of that, we're the benefactor of having the support behind our mission to to eliminate violent crime and provide public safety and having those other agencies involved, specifically the district attorney's office, which D.A.

Williams has given that authority to the Louisiana attorney general's office in our work within OPD, that's really going to help his office in the number of cases that come in.

So from the time of arrest to a time of prosecution and and, of course, through through the court process and decisions made by judges.

So those making those partnerships with the judicial system as well is going to be helpful.

We're going to follow the case from start to finish.

And in the past, I think while while maybe there was some, I guess, speed bumps along the way, having additional resources from the attorney general's office, partnering with the district attorney and New Orleans police Department more clearly because you have a defined presence in New Orleans citywide, not just in the French Quarter, that will lead to more success and the ultimate goal of reducing violent crime.

So speaking of speed bumps, Mayor Latoya Cantrell, the mayor of New Orleans, and also Governor Landry, they've mentioned that the consent decree has been one of the speed bumps that's kind of hindered New Orleans is ability to fight crime.

Now, I do have a question for you.

Do you believe that it should be repealed?

And if so, how can you ensure that these same behaviors that the consent decree was put in place to fight won't arise again?

I think a lot of the practices are in place with the New Orleans Police Department, but due to their numbers being so low because of recruitment, it's very challenging.

The expectations since they've been in the consent decree over ten years.

Some of them are unrealistic expectations, meaning you only have so many personnel to work with and patrol and investigations and you want to accomplish the task and be in compliance.

But when you have a reduction and they're allotted for 1500 and they have under 900.

You can see the quick mathematical equation.

It doesn't provide them to ever accomplish that.

So I think once Chief Kirkpatrick and her team are able to put the new proposals and realistic expectations before the federal judge, I think they will be able to find their way out of that consent decree, which helps them police more confidently.

So when you're under constant scrutiny of everything that you do, people are hesitant to take police action.

And I think ultimately that hurts the public.

I really appreciate you sitting down with us and I can't wait to see what you do for the state of Louisiana.

Thank you so much.

2024 is the year of the Dragon on the lunar calendar.

Saturday, February 10th marks the start of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year, kicking off a two week celebration worldwide by many eastern cultures.

The Lunar New Year arrives in tandem with the first new moon of the lunar calendar.

And more than a month after Western culture is welcomed, 2024.

Throughout Louisiana, Asian communities are sharing their traditions of food, music and dance, which could serve as a festive second chance at a fresh start for 2024.

Here's more.

2024 is the Year of the Dragon in many Asian cultures.

It's one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac that take turns representing the Lunar New Year, celebrated around the world on Saturday, February ten.

A lot of Chinese families really, because I'm Chinese, they believe that the dragon means about means wealth and power and leadership.

The Lunar New Year marks the arrival of spring and the start of a new year on the Lunisolar calendar.

This Chinese holiday is widely celebrated in countries with Asian or Pacific Islander populations in Louisiana's capital city.

The community comes together for a festival called Night Market Baton Rouge.

And taking center stage is the traditional Chinese lion dance.

The dance consists of a lion head, a tail and a head.

And we also play instruments, cymbals, drums and a gong.

And we perform these routines that bring good luck and scare away evil spirits.

But overall, to bring happiness to the community and to scare away evil spirits.

Southern Lotus is a nonprofit dance group in Baton Rouge, open to all cultures.

Dancers perform at community events throughout the year.

So what kind of technique and skill and training goes into performing this dance?

A lot of flexibility.

A lot of strength, a lot of foundation is very similar to martial arts.

We do a lot of acrobatic sports, a lot of jumping, hops, carrying and lifting.

There's a lot of mechanisms inside is made out of papier maché where the eyes can blink like this or the mouth can open.

And then we also play with a lot of instruments.

So the line coordinates with the music, with the drum, the cymbals or the gong.

So it makes the line look really alive.

Very interactive.

Similar to January 1st, New Year's celebration.

Eat, drink and Be Merry is the mantra of the Lunar New Year celebration.

So a lot of Asian cultures, we we call it like family style.

So basically you're British and we have different plates and we share it together.

So we show our love through food.

This is dragon fruit, surely expressive for it from Asian dragon for egg Vonn when she shares her Vietnamese culture through cups of bubble tea.

It's a concoction of toppings and teas mixed together in flavorful and colorful combinations.

She serves it up as part of the Lunar New Year celebration.

You have scaling Christmas.

We have a Lunar New Year.

We gather with family, friends everywhere in the world.

Come home, you know, just sharing time, good time, good cheer and just, you know, celebrate.

Well, tell me where Boba tea originates.

So as origin or store in Taiwan, but is spread out on an Asian like when we've been out like Japan or Korean or all over the world right now.

Love.

Luck with wishes of luck, health and wealth.

The Lunar New Year highlights our shared humanity, celebrating family, friends and community in sync with the Earth's largest natural satellite lighting up the sky at night.

So red and gold is kind of like the lucky colors.

People will have put money in this and give it to each other.

It's kind of like a blessing.

And also as good luck and good fortune for the future.

So it appears that Mother Nature gives us two opportunities for a fresh start January 1st with the Gregorian calendar and February 10th on the Lunisolar calendar.

No matter what the language or culture, the sentiment remains the same.

It is like an honor for us.

It's like a pride of like us sharing who we are with the community at large.

My in Baton Rouge, a Lunar New Year celebration takes place on Friday, February 9th at night Market BTR from 6 to $0.09.

Now for other celebrations, check your local community events calendar for details.

Well, that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything, be at any time wherever you are with our APB app.

You can catch LAPD news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook X and Instagram for every one that Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and I'm crossing here until next time.

That's the state we're in support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And by visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.